Qatar Charity’s Latest Medical Camp for Eye Patients in Yemen

Qatar Charity Yemen, has implemented a medical camp for the benefit of 4,500 eye patients, at a cost of QAR 135,000 (USD 37,000). In coordination with the Yemeni Ministry of Health, the camp was held at Al-Moneera Hospital in the province of Hodeidah in late February 2015. Ophthalmologists from Yemen and Pakistan ran the camp and the necessary equipment which were not available locally was brought in for use.

The camp involved a number of activities, including examination of patients, the dispensing and distribution of prescription glasses and cataract operations. In total, approximately 4500 patients were examined, 536 cataract removed and 800 pairs of glasses distributed. Free medicines were also distributed to patients.

The camp witnessed a large turnout of patients from different districts of Hodeidah, as well as people from further away in the provinces of Taiz, Mahaweet and Hajja, over 200 kilometers away.

Qatar Charity has carried out a number of previous eye camps in Yemen; with two camps in Hodeidah, one camp in Taiz province and two others in Socotra province, the first in 2014 and the second in January 2015. The organization plans to implement other eye and medical camps throughout this year.

Qatar Charity has also embarked on a QAR 25 million (USD 6.9 million) emergency program seeking to help 50,000 families in the areas of food and healthcare. The food component budget is QAR 15 million (USD 4.1 million) and the medical programs QAR 10 million (USD 2.8 million). .An estimated ten million people are considered to be in need of urgent support, around 330,000 people displaced, 250,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition and 24,600 have no access to medical care, with numbers expected to rise. The worst affected provinces and villages are Hajja, al-Jouf, Marib, Saada, Sanaa, Rada, Abyan and Shabwa.